83 



Musca domestica, the house-fly, is also very troublesome. It is 

 probably connected with the transmission of typhoid and other diseases, 

 particularly framboesia or yaws, caused by the parasites Treponema 

 pertenue, which is prevalent among children. Another disease, for the 

 spread of which flies are held responsible, is one peculiar to the islands 

 and prevalent among children ; its effect is to cause sores round the 

 eyes which may eventually lead to blindness. 



The head louse, Pediculus capitis, is said to be common ; the 

 Samoans often treat the head with lime, sometimes adding also the 

 juice of limes, as a remedy against it. No Stomoxi/s or other biting 

 flies were found. A rat examined was infested with the plague flea, 

 Xenopsylla cheopis, which emphasises the necessity of enforcing a 

 strict quarantine against plague-infected ports. Dogs were badly 

 infested with Rhipicephalus sangimieus, the tick which is concerned 

 with malignant jaundice of dogs in South Africa and India ; allied 

 species of similar habits cause diseases of cattle. As cattle and horses 

 are constantly being imported into Samoa, it would be desirable to 

 keep a careful watch to prevent diseases being introduced in this way. 



WoosNAM (R. B.). Report on a search for Glossina on the Amala 

 (Engabei) River, Southern Masai Reserve, East Africa Protectorate. 



Bull. Entom. Research, London, iv, pt. 4. Feb. 1914, pp. 271-278, 

 1 map. 



In July-October 1913, the author made an expedition to the valley 

 of the Amala (or Amara) river to search for Glossina. From his own 

 observations and from what he learnt from natives regarding any 

 effects that the fly had produced on themselves or on their cattle, he 

 arrived at the following facts and conclusions. The species of tsetse- 

 fly is the western G. fasca, which has never been recorded previously 

 from the East Africa Protectorate. The altitude, 5,200 feet, is one of 

 the highest at which species of Glossina have been found to exist 

 permanently. On the upper part of the river the fly is confined to 

 the west bank, a broad plain of park-Uke country, intersected by 

 numerous small water-courses. The bush is not dense, consisting of 

 some large forest trees with smaller ones in between, and with creepers, 

 etc., affording shade, and is similar to the bush in which G. palpalis is 

 found in Uganda and the Congo. The east bank of the river is more 

 rocky and arid, with very little bush, and is not frequented by the fly. 

 Natives with their cattle, sheep and goats have been living for many 

 years practically in contact with the fly, although it is known that the 

 fly has been the cause of death to cattle, mules, and horses ; either 

 the natives in this district are so familiar with the distribution of the 

 fly that they are careful to avoid exposing their cattle to infection, 

 or only a very small percentage of the flies present are infective, the 

 reservoir of infection being limited, or the flies not receptive to it. 



The author considers that, in existing circumstances, the presence 

 of the tsetse-fly in this region calls for no alarm, and it is not necessary 

 to adopt precautionary measures ; all that need be done would be to 

 warn newcomers to the neighbourhood that the fly does exist there ; 

 further, it does not appear advisable to allow natives suffering from 

 trypanosomiasis in an early stage to visit the area in question until 

 more definite knowledge about the fly on the Amala river has been 



